new jig from Confidence Baits

[Turtle135]

Jeff Little was kind enough to give me one of the new jigs that should be available on the Confidence Baits site soon so I figured I would give it a mini review.

I was out on Little Seneca Lake on Tuesday after work with about 2 hours to fish (lake closes at sunset ). I spent the first hour and a half probably fishing too shallow. Had some hits on a plastic worm from what felt like small bass grabbing and running with the worm. Nothing there when I tried to set the hook. Wasn't getting any hits on my go to jig either.

With a half hour to go I decided to throw something bigger, heavier and deeper. Since it looked like a skunking was going down I was going to go down swinging for the fence. While I was upsizing to a 10 inch plastic worm on one rod I came across the jig Jeff gave me. It must have at least a half ounce of lead so I tied that on another rod.

I think in about 10 casts with the new jig I caught 3 bass. Nothing huge, just some 13 to 15 inch bass like this one:



Ended up with 7 largemouths on the new jig in about 30 minutes of fishing. I did start fishing deeper. Moved out to at least 12 feet of water but I think this new jig might be a winner. Not sure if it is the profile, the weight, the thinner skirt or the way the jig decends to the bottom. I like their Draggin Heads for tubes as the tube will fall in more of a horizontal attitude so the same thing might be going on with this jig. It's kind of a Draggin Head on steroids.



With the weight postioned on the bottom of the hook, I do get a great feel for the bottom (rocks, wood, etc.) when I drag this jig. Similiar to the bottom feedback you get from a Carolina Rig with a heavy weight.

Any rate, hope to see if for sale soon as I did manage to set the hook into a submerged tree that had coughed up two bass and sadly had to break it off.

Was fun fishing with something nobody else has!

[HookUp]

It must have at least a half ounce of lead so I tied that on another rod.


It's kind of a Draggin Head on steroids.

Tell us more. Sure it's not the 3/8 version of his draggin head?

I've been fishing this type of a jig now for a year. Used it on senko's, beavers, creature baits & tubes. It's a winner.

[gdub16]

It must have at least a half ounce of lead so I tied that on another rod.


It's kind of a Draggin Head on steroids.

Tell us more. Sure it's not the 3/8 version of his draggin head?

I've been fishing this type of a jig now for a year. Used it on senko's, beavers, creature baits & tubes. It's a winner.

does it have a twist lock on the head to keep the butt of crawl in place?.

[oubassman]

It must have at least a half ounce of lead so I tied that on another rod.


It's kind of a Draggin Head on steroids.

Tell us more. Sure it's not the 3/8 version of his draggin head?

I've been fishing this type of a jig now for a year. Used it on senko's, beavers, creature baits & tubes. It's a winner.

does it have a twist lock on the head to keep the butt of crawl in place?.

Yes it does. HookUp is using what he designed based on Al Winco's flutterhead jig design. If next Wed works for you, I'll give you a few of Winco's jigs to try. The EXCEL in rocky rivers.

[HookUp]

Yes it does. HookUp is using what he designed based on Al Winco's flutterhead jig design. If next Wed works for you, I'll give you a few of Winco's jigs to try. The EXCEL in rocky rivers.

My jig is more similar to Jeff's draggin head than Al's because if I was to guess from the sponor stickers on the side of Jeff's yak (and some draggin heads of hisI have), we're both pretty much using the same mold.

Al got himself a nice custom c-n-c mold made. I took all of my flutter jigs, removed the hitchhiker, and really cleaned out the eye of the hook because there's allot going on in that eye with the hitchhiker, line & knot. Make's it easy for my old eyes to tie & rig.

In the pix Turtle provided, the big diff I see between it and a CWSD is Al has his silicon hairs on the plastic w/ an o-ring & looks like Jeff's is on the jig w/ thread. I could be wrong w/ this last statement, because all I have is your pix to look at.

Bottom line, not much difference between Al & Jeff's jigs. They both excel at being virtually snag proof on our rocky ledgy rivers and both catch fish.

[jfrancho]

Yes, Jeff's jigs have thread wrapped skirts.

[Turtle135]

Tell us more. Sure it's not the 3/8 version of his draggin head?

No, this was a prototype for a jig that they have not started selling yet.

Same concept as the draggin heads with the twist lock to screw into the soft plastic but with a jig skirt tied on.

Not up on the Confidence Baits site yet (I just checked).

I think these should come in real handy once the bass head for their summer hangouts. At Little Seneca Lake it seems the better largemouths stay deep (15 to 20 feet down) during the summer (or at least that is where I can catch them).

[gdub16]

Tell us more. Sure it's not the 3/8 version of his draggin head?

No, this was a prototype for a jig that they have not started selling yet.

Same concept as the draggin heads with the twist lock to screw into the soft plastic but with a jig skirt tied on.

Not up on the Confidence Baits site yet (I just checked).

I think these should come in real handy once the bass head for their summer hangouts. At Little Seneca Lake it seems the better largemouths stay deep (15 to 20 feet down) during the summer (or at least that is where I can catch them).

So when you are catching them 15-20 down is this usually off Points and Secondary points? If there not in the shallows I am kind of lost on the lakes Reservoirs other than obvious spots that have nice cover on steep slopes.


Oubassman still hoping to make it Wednesday

[DT]

Gdub,

If you make it out on Wednesday I'll have some of my Jig-n-Craws. Even if I can't go I'll be giving OU a good quantity of them before that outing and I'll throw in a few extra for you.

HookUp,

I have seen all of these products first hand. The one obvious difference that sticks out is the hook model. It seems everyone, including myself, has their own preference. Additionally it appears the Confidence products have been bulked up from the original mold you mention, allowing larger amounts of lead to be molded on smaller hooks. The 3/16th finesse from CB is much more compact than the 1/4oz that I can pour. Yes those are different weight sizes, but if you compare the two you'll see what I'm getting at.


As for attaching silicone/RR, you're really only limited by your imagination. Through an extended amount of tinkerin' I've figured out numerous ways to attach silicone and round rubber. Most recently I've been "sewing" the silicone and round rubber into the plastic, then securing w/ a small dab of super glue. It's an extremely time consuming method, but I'm not mass producing these and can work at my own pace. I've found the "sewing" method decreases the profile of the jig, it also saves a little material.

The greatest benefit of producing your own jigs, IMHO, is having the ability to customize the colors and the profiles. Over the past two nights I've produced 10 different color schemes. Having a creek that dumps into the Mac, literally in my backyard, has really helped me choose/identify different combinations of silicone/RR.

[Turtle135]

So when you are catching them 15-20 down is this usually off Points and Secondary points? If there not in the shallows I am kind of lost on the lakes Reservoirs other than obvious spots that have nice cover on steep slopes.

Good deep spots are much harder to find but once you find them they can produce year after year. I'm also a little lost on new water when I need to fish deep. You have to rely on your electronics and a bait you can work deep (jig, plastic worm) that you have some confidence in.

Sometimes the lay of the land above water can give you an overall clue as to what the under water bottom structure will look like. Points are good places to check. Places where a creek dumps in, just keep following the contour down looking for cover or a turn in the channel.

At Little Seneca Lake the irregularities in the hydrilla do show up on the fish finder and on a lake like Tridelphia if you can find a deep rock pile you have found gold.